"It's a myth that the U.S. doesn't make anything anymore." The U.S. economy still produces more through manufacturing tangible goods ($1.5 trillion) than it does in providing services ($600 billion) for the international market. The maps and graphs in this article are great teaching materials. The impact of NAFTA is shown powerfully in the regionalization of U.S. trade partners, making this salient material for a discussion on supranationalism as well.

This is great because now we can witness the creation of jobs in the country which can help the country get out of the depression that it is in. it also can help people get jobs and not have to worry about if there unemployment check is going enough to cover there expenses. Also people that are working are less likely to get depressed because they are not trapped in there homes because now they have something that is distracting them. But the United States is seeing a great improvement because of all the things being manufactured here. One good example is the Honda accord power plant and the ford motor company plant and even general motors in Detroit. all of these companies is helping the Americans get back into the workforce.

i was surprised to see that our country still exports so many products. What i find even more surprising is that the top countries that are buying our good are our bordering countries, Canada and Mexico. As much Petroleum we receive from the middle east we still are exporting so much of it to Canada and Mexico. It seems that foreign cars such as ones from Japan are taking over the industry yet our top export to Canada is car parts. it is good to see that America still exports.

I was surprised and reassured to see how much the U.S. exports to other parts of the world. I was unaware that the U.S exported to China because we physically surrounded by items made in China. Although our imports exceed exports, we are still producing,

Introducing this work

For the purposes of this site, the history of human interaction with information may be divided into 4 eras. The first (spoken) era ended with the invention of writing around 3000-4000 BC. The second era ended with the invention of the printing press in 1440. The third era ended, and the fourth began, with the invention of the Internet (depending how one defines its operational beginning) somewhere between 1969 and 1982. We now exist early, but decidedly, in the fourth era.

All readers may not agree with this interpretation of the history of information, especially with the division and numbering of the eras. That is not the main point. Rather, it is that humankind presently exists in an era distinctly different from the one that preceded it -- that in fact, this new era is accompanied with, and characterized by, a new - and quite different - information landscape. This new Internet information landscape will challenge, disrupt, and overpower the print-oriented one that came before it. It will not completely obliterate that which preceded it, but it will render it to a subsidiary, rather than primary, level of influence.

Just as the printing press altered humanity's relationship with information, thereby resulting in massive restructuring of political, religious, economic, social, educational, cultural, scientific, and other realms of life; so too will the advance of digital technology occasion analogous transformations in the corresponding universe of present and future human activity.

This site will concern itself primarily with how K-20 education in the US, and the people who comprise its constituencies, may be affected by this transformative movement from one era to the next. All ideas considered here appear, to me at least, to impact the learning enterprise in some way. Accordingly, this work looks at the present and the future through a lens that is predominantly, but far from entirely, a digital one. -JL

Opinions expressed, scooped, or copied in this Scoop.it topic are my own, or a result of my own judgment, and should in no way be understood to reflect those of my employer.

A study of 38 exemplary high schools provides guidelines for ensuring that students are prepared for postsecondary success.

Preparing students for college has become a higher priority in many schools as parents, business leaders, and politicians emphasize the importance of a highly educated workforce and citizenry. But what steps do schools need to take to ensure that more students are ready?

The Big FourA comprehensive college preparation program must address four distinct dimensions of college readiness: cognitive strategies, content knowledge, self-management skills, and knowledge about postsecondary education.

"In June 2017, iNACOL published the draft paper Fit for Purpose: Taking the Long View on Systems Change and Policy to Support Competency Education for participants of the National Summit on K–12 Competency–Based Education. The paper introduces four threshold concepts, which are “core concepts, that once understood, are needed to transform a given subject.”

"The four threshold concepts are:

Certifying learning;Assessment literacy;Pedagogical innovations based on learning sciences; andMeeting students where they are.

"These concepts hold potential to change our perspectives forever and are important to embracing a vision of personalized, competency-based learning. They help us to think differently about what is possible in an equitable, future education system where all students succeed, and how to address deep-seated systems design flaws across K-12 education."

NY EdTech Expo Night: Investing ourselves in EdTech

PLEASE REGISTER USING THIS EVENTBRITE LINK (https://goo.gl/vK7snR)
Teachers College, Columbia University and NY EdTech Meetup are proud to present the 2018 NY EdTech Expo!
Attendees will be treated to an interactive experience with more than 10 EdTech startups, discover new ways to support learning, and give real feedback to entrepreneurs building ...

Attendees will be treated to an interactive experience with more than 10 EdTech startups, discover new ways to support learning, and give real feedback to entrepreneurs building new products for the classroom.

Calling all teachers! Prior to the General Admission, there will be a professional development session for current teachers and TC students around vetting, selecting and effectively integrating the just right EdTech tool for your classroom. Earn 2 CTLEs!

EdTech innovators, including entrepreneurs, educators, investors, and enthusiasts are all invited to participate in our Expo to visit the booths of our startups, learn about their work, and offer them suggestions. Keep an eye on the NY EdTech Meetup page to find out more about our presenting companies.

Generation Z will leverage their online resourcefulness to uncover the right learning platforms to level-up their know-how and skill sets. Resources like General Assembly, Lynda.com, Udemy, Udacity, Coursera, and YouTube are already giving Generation Z the learning edge to leapfrog college.

Someone recently told me that they heard of an approach where all the boring content delivery lecture material is put online so that more active learning can take place in the classroom. They then asked me if this was the best approach for online learning? What they were describing is blended learning or the “flipped” classroom approach. Good blended classrooms have a significant amount of active learning. The active learning philosophies need not only occur in the classroom however. There are ways to leverage the online space to include active learning. Active learning is basically any part of the course that involves active “interaction” instead of just passive tasks. It engages learners into activities that help them clarify, investigate, apply, create and integrate knowledge. Consider the human-factor: any types of human interactions such as Learner-to-Learner or Learner-to-TeachingTeam qualify. However, learners can also interact with their physical or virtual environment and that can be active. Just because you have an online course, it doesn’t mean you have to design learning activities that only involve reading web-pages or textbooks all day. Here’s a list of ideas, across four categories, for active learning online

Tim Berners-Lee has released a statement for the 29th anniversary of the World Wide Web. "I remain committed to making sure the web is a free, open, creative space — for everyone," he writes, "That vision is only possible if we get everyone online, and make sure the web works for people." He outlines some key areas where work needs to be done, for example: " we must support policies and business models that expand access to the world’s poorest." But the web is less diverse than it used to be and a few platformes have monopolized much of web traffic. We need to challenge "the myth that advertising is the only possible business model for online companies, and the myth that it’s too late to change the way platforms operate." More: BBC News.

Bill Gates recently had a conversation with Jorge Aguilar, the superintendent of the Sacramento City United School District who has creative ideas about how to make school systems work for every child.

The underlying beliefs and norm values that administrators, teachers and students hold about their school creates a culture. Numerous educators, writers and researchers have written about school culture that is normally divided into two basic forms: positive and negative. Of course, every school district and school leader wishes that their school fall into the positive camp, but it takes more than wishing. Most of the responsibility and accountability has been placed on members of the school administration, but truly, school culture is shaped by everyone who is part of a school; it takes a village!

Thes best administrators know that a positive school culture is based upon the overall satisfaction and safety of the students, staff, and community members–and they also know that if they don’t intentionally lead the shaping of the school culture, others will!

So how can you build a culture where everyone is beating down the doors to get in? It all begins with relationships! Creating positive relationships where everyone feels a strong sense of belonging and a vibe of trust is central to an atmosphere of positivity. Once established, watch the magic happen.

From Blade Runner to I, Robot, the big screens of Hollywood have predicted the rise of the machine. Automated intelligences will wait our tables and drive our cabs. They will serve us by performing menial tasks. But fact is now surpassing fiction. Automation has moved beyond the factory assembly line as computers are diagnosing illnesses, providing legal counsel, and make financial and political decisions. And if artificial intelligence really is faster, smarter and more reliable, what are we left with?

The answer is precisely that element which makes us less efficient and slower. Our humanity. But rather than being seen as a weakness, this is actually our strongest suit. It’s one we need to empower, because studies show that as the world becomes increasingly automated, computerised and digitalised, we are losing the very skills that define us as human. Just when we need them the most.

Our empathy is something that computers will always struggle to emulate. We need to celebrate what makes us different from even the smartest of the machines. While the future belongs to those who are able to navigate this increasingly digitalised world of ours, the choicest spoils will fall to those who can combine technological fluency with emotional intelligence.

It is very interesting the way in which this article emphasizes the importance of empathy and the other characteristics belonging to the human being in our society, also how that characteristics distance us from machines. I think that the implementation of methodologies that take into consideration this aspects in education in general will contribute to the comprehensive citizens education. The appropriate combination of technological fluency with emotional intelligence should be one of the goals in modern education

In a landmark study, 20 experienced US-trained lawyers were pitted against the LawGeex Artificial Intelligence algorithm. The 40-page study details how AI has overtaken top lawyers for the first time in accurately spotting risks in everyday business contracts.

Traditional jobs like lawyers, doctors and teachers have been believed to be never replaceable by AI. However, this study proves this belief wrong. AI seems to be more accurate, efficient and cheaper than a lawyer. This may potentially pose a problem as people might want to choose the alternative, all-round better option that is AI, compared to a human lawyer, displacing thousands of people from their job. However, this may create new job opportunities as well, like the creators and programmers of AI to replace lawyers. In my opinion, AI seems to be pretty scary as their abilities seem to be limitless. Human’s own creation could very well turn against humans in the future.

"How should you raise a boy? For some time now, the urgency of the dilemma has seemed to ratchet up with every news cycle. Last month’s Parkland school shooting was just the most recent massacre committed by a young man filled with rage and resentment — and there have been multiple shootings since.

"For generations, boys have been raised in environments that seemed designed to cultivate, and then sublimate, aggression, sometimes right up to the border of sociopathy. (We recoil at Fight Club, but it basically depicts the secret life of boys aged 8 to 14. Men are Tyler Durden spliced with Beavis.) But those masculine scripts seem especially problematic today: Trained by superhero movies, inspired by planet-straddling athlete-gods and tech tycoons more powerful than entire governments, boys are reared to tame their aggressions, then asked to navigate a bleak, winner-take-all economic landscape. Thanks in part to more enlightened attitudes about gender and parenting, it is hard not to see male entitlement and aggression as toxic forces degrading our culture. But it is also hard not to notice that the world is now run by the aggressive and the bullying.

"It is also hard not to notice that, in many ways, and on average, boys are falling behind.

"Girls are getting better grades in school than boys, women are graduating from college at higher rates than men and slowly (too slowly, but still) taking over in the boardroom, thanks in large part to the famed “Quiet Revolution” of the last 30 years. That transformed landscape is part of what led the country to properly recognize, for the first time, the problems of sexual harassment and assault, and then to the revelation that much of the country’s still-male powers-that-be were guilty of one, or the other, or both. There is a male chauvinist and part-time white supremacist in the White House, but at some basic level that came to pass in part because both groups came out in droves to vote feeling themselves pushed into retreat."

Project-based learning (PBL) demands excellent assessment practices to ensure that all learners are supported in the learning process. With good assessment practices, PBL can create a culture of excellence for all students and ensure deeper learning for all. We’ve compiled some of the best resources from Edutopia and the web to support your use of assessment in PBL, including information about strategies, advice on how to address the demands of standardized tests, and summaries of the research.

Between 2009 and 2015, the number of students visiting counseling centers increased by about 30% on average, while enrollment grew by less than 6%, the Center for Collegiate Mental Health found in a 2015 report. Students seeking help are increasingly likely to have attempted suicide or engaged in self-harm, the center found. In spring 2017, nearly 40% of college students said they had felt so depressed in the prior year that it was difficult for them to function, and 61% of students said they had “felt overwhelming anxiety” in the same time period, according to an American College Health Association survey of more than 63,000 students at 92 schools.

As midterms begin in March, students’ workload intensifies, the wait time for treatment at counseling centers grows longer, and students who are still struggling to adjust to college consider not returning after the spring or summer breaks. To prevent students from burning out and dropping out, colleges across the country — where health centers might once have left meaningful care to outside providers — are experimenting with new measures. For the first time last fall, UCLA offered all incoming students a free online screening for depression. More than 2,700 students have opted in, and counselors have followed up with more than 250 who were identified as being at risk for severe depression, exhibiting manic behavior or having suicidal thoughts.

As the world becomes increasingly complex, the old Industrial Age approach to higher education—studies of siloed individual subjects such as math, language, and science—has to change.

One of the hallmarks well-regarded universities share is their history as longstanding institutions of education and tradition. But disruption of how people make (and how they learn to make) things is erupting everywhere. So in the future of learning, if universities don’t ride the waves of change, they (and their students) won’t be able to keep up with the evolution of industries and jobs—and more broadly, the demands of a complex, global society.

Contemporary media literacy programs–commonly organized around the five main themes of youth participation, teacher training and curricular resources, parental support, policy initiatives, and evidence base construction–have demonstrated positive outcomes, particularly in the case of rapid responses to breaking news events, connecting critical thinking with behavior change, and evaluating partisan content. However, media literacy efforts continue to struggle with a lack of comprehensive evaluation data, with some research showing programs can have little-to-no impact for certain materials, or even lead to harmful overconfidence in assessing media content.

Report authors Monica Bulger and Patrick Davison make five recommendations to guide the future of media literacy programming for educators, legislators, technologists, and philanthropists in the space. Specifically, they warn against the treatment of media literacy as a panacea–particularly at a time when significant resources continue to be pushed toward media literacy programs as a counter balance to “fake news.”

Among online course participants in a 2017 Georgia Tech Computer Science course, the percentage of women and ethnic minorities enrolled was double the national average. A new study suggests that the issues of diversity, discrimination, and equity in online courses go far beyond mere enrollment.

In the wake of Parkland, the brave voices of student survivors have been a clarion call and beacon of hope. Once, our nation forced generations of school children to respond to the threat of thermonuclear war by hiding under desks in Duck and Cover drills. Those children grew up, leaving the existence of that threat—our world’s massive nuclear arsenals—unchanged, normalized away from regular consciousness. It is frankly incredible and genuinely inspiring that today, a generation raised with Active Shooter drills has responded to trauma and horror not by disavowing or normalizing it, but by confronting it head-on. What these young people are demanding is properly political and legitimately radical: not just an opportunity not to be the next victims, but that there not be any next victims at all. Their testimony and demands should galvanize us into reflection, solidarity, and action. America cannot and must not leave it to them to save us from neoliberalism, from gun violence, or from ourselves.

Jim Lerman's insight:

A bold definition of and attack upon neoliberalism. I, for one, feel the pundits should come up with a new name for this phenomenon.

"Liberalism," in the minds of many, denotes something of a progressive ideal. To conflate the term by the addition of a simple "neo" prefix to describe something regressive, dangerous, or evil, produces confusion rather than clarity. Perhaps that's part of the intention of adopting the label.

It's time to to tell it like it is, for plain speaking, as Blanchfield argues. The author hits the nail solidly on the head: "Neoliberalism" is "newspeak," blinding us to reality.

Over the last several years I have paused around the time of my birthday to reflect on my experiences in education. Last year I wrote a post about the 43 Things We Need To Stop Doing in Education. While the post was well received and the intent was a positive one, I also realized that it may have impacted some in a negative way because it was critical of the practices that are norms in some places. So, in thinking about this past year, I realized I was quite fortunate to have seen so many amazing practices already unfolding in our schools. During my time as an educator I have seen best practices unfolding in various schools. So, while there is no "silver bullet" in education and I believe the whole ed reform movement is flawed, I have seen how education has evolved over the last 20 years. We are in a much better place than we were a decade ago. Do we still have a lot of work to do? Yes. But if people, such as the U.S. Secretary of Education, actually spent time in classrooms engaging with students and educators, I know the progress in our profession would be visible. What are the things happening in our schools today? Here is a list of at least 44 different positive practices (in no specific order - just the way they flowed out of my head) unfolding in education today that I have seen with my very own eyes...

Spread the loveThe education sector is a complex marketplace, with several subsections. You have the early childhood market, the K-12 market, the higher education market, the continuing education market, etc. If you want to be successful, you must figure out which market or markets your product fits into. If you choose the wrong market, you could be on the short road to financial ruin and bankruptcy. Even if you choose the correct market, you still must have intimate knowledge of how it works. Unless you come from a teaching background before starting your edtech company, you likely don’t have intimate …

A growing percentage of girls feel pressure to please everyone in their lives, according to a nationwide survey conducted by Ruling Our eXperiences (ROX). The college application process is more competitive than ever and the comparative culture on social media is always present. “The pressure is greater, but they’re also experiencing it more and more each day as the time on media increases,” Marean said.

Some studies show the rate of depression and anxiety increasing more rapidly among girls, and social media culture has heightened the sense among many girls that they must be perfect, presenting a pleasant, well-behaved, curated persona to the world.

It’s easy to become distracted and–not purposefully distant from the staff, particularly in large school districts. So what’s an administrator “why”, and what part do the staff play in it? What’s best for kids is a phrase that has garnered a lot of traction…and it should be the basis for decisions in schools, however humor me in explaining why the staff should also be an equal focus of “the why” of every administrator.

The staff gets the job done, day in and day out. They altruistically want to make the world a better place for ALL students. Dedicated staff arrive early, stay late, and often times give up their lunch and prep periods to help students. Collectively, staff members volunteer countless hours to create incredible experiences and memories for students. Most will go above and beyond to assist and lead clubs or athletic programs that are all an integral part of the social and emotional well-being of students. The presence of your staff makes a positive difference in the lives of students ever-day. Administrators trust that their staff is creating the perfect environment for student success–in and out of the classroom; they are counting on them.

The many people who work in a school should be a big part of the “why”—and if they aren’t they should be! Check out some ways you can celebrate and recognize your staff and let them know that they matter:

Staying ahead in the accelerating artificial-intelligence race requires executives to make nimble, informed decisions about where and how to employ AI in their business. One way to prepare to act quickly: know the AI essentials presented in this guide.

Jim Lerman's insight: Not just for executives...educators need to stay on top of this too. That said, this particular report might be a bit high level for some of us.

We often talk about the need to differentiate instruction to meet the diverse needs of students. Rarely, do we speak of differentiating teacher professional development to meet the diverse needs of teachers. Teachers, like their students, are in different places in their careers. They have different skills sets as well as different areas of strength and opportunity. Schools located within the same district might have different needs or are at different stages of development. However, schools and district continue to require teachers to attend one-size-fits-all professional development. This is counter-intuitive to the mindset of an educator.

"Based on my observations, the lives of the high school students I teach are hemmed in everywhere by social pressures and expectations: high-stakes testing, the looming shadow of college admissions, the fiercely competitive school system, the painful process of figuring out who you are, and the ubiquitous desire for peer acceptance. Add to this the unseen pressures—fractured or fragmented home lives, emotional or physical violence and abuse, struggles with substance use, legal problems, and the wide range of issues borne by the many immigrant communities across the country—and it makes for a period of unsustainable emotional distress. In recent weeks the constant pressure has meant dealing with student depression almost daily, and helping support those who I feel might be toeing the line of self-harm.

"There are plenty of resources for dealing with student mental health issues, of course—though most of them are geared either toward college kids or, more tragically, toward elementary and middle school-aged children. The sources that do offer strategies tailored for high school students tend to be either excessively academic or so general as to be useless. Reviewing my notes from my joint credential and master’s program, I find inconsistency and a frustrating lack of clarity. The strategies include things like teaching positive management strategies and promoting emotional competency, or educating staff on mental health issues and encourage social supports.

"As a practicing teacher, I don’t find that very helpful. And in my day-to-day work life, I see two common—and mostly inadequate—mental health strategies deployed to help high schoolers who look like they might be struggling: First, take some time, and second, get caught up. Even if the advice is phrased differently, it’s usually a variation on the same theme. Students are advised to take the adolescent equivalent of a personal day, and then complete their work accordingly. I’m not pointing fingers. I’ve done it myself.

"In my case, frustration drove me to seek some better answers. In a series of recent conversations with the mental health professionals I trust, with colleagues who have a long history of putting students’ mental well-being first—and of course with students—I’ve assembled a list of strategies for classroom teachers to implement that might help not just treat the symptoms but also address the underlying issues. "

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